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A Jewish-Catholic Partnership against Islamist Violence?

The Pope's failure vociferously to denounce Islam-based violence concerns many among both Church hierarchy and lay people.

The pope's statements regarding Islam and his refusal directly to discuss mounting Christian martyrdom in Muslim lands defy credulity. Whether his words are willful blindness, innocent naiveté, or intellectual ignorance of the nature of Islam itself, it is confusing many of the faithful.

One moderate Muslim leader, Yahya Cholil Staquf, head of Indonesia's Nahdlatul Ulama, said that Westerners "should stop pretending that extremism and terrorism have nothing to do with Islam."

The Chief Rabbinates of world Jewry apparently want to partner with the Vatican to combat radical Islam. In a recent letter, they proposed a formal alliance between Judaism and Catholicism, calling "upon the [Catholic] Church to join us in deepening our combat against our generation's new barbarism, namely the radical offshoots of Islam."
This extraordinary alliance would unite Orthodox Jewry and the Holy See against their common enemy, jihadist Islam. The Rabbinates' letter identifies "the very real danger facing many Christians in the Middle East and elsewhere as they are persecuted and menaced by violence and death at the hands of those who invoke God's Name in vain through violence and terror."
The authors of this missive to Pope Francis -- the Chief Rabbinate of Israel (CRI), the Conference of European Rabbis (CER), and the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA) -- represent the vast majority of the world's Orthodox Jews. Representatives of Judaism's Conservative and Reform wings did not sign the letter. Seemingly, any successful efforts by the Orthodox community to elicit the support of Conservative and Reform Jewish leaders would further strengthen the initiative's standing in the Vatican.
The Rabbinates chose the 50th anniversary of the Vatican's publication of the Papal Encyclical "Nostra Aetate" ("In Our Time") to launch their appeal. This document revolutionized relations between the Catholic Church and Judaism, as it formally absolved the Jewish people of any responsibility for Christ's crucifixion. Promulgated by Pope Paul VI on October 28, 1965 during the Second Vatican Council, the encyclical declared:

"His (Jesus') passion cannot be charged against all the Jews, without distinction, then alive, nor against the Jews of today. Although the Church is the new people of God, the Jews should not be presented as rejected or accursed by God, as if this followed from the Holy Scriptures."

The rabbis proposed an alliance to fight Islam-inspired anti-Semitic and anti-Christian narratives. The rabbis also praised Pope Francis for his 2015 Apostolic Exhortation "Evangelii Gaudium" ("Joy of the Gospel") as it acknowledges "that God continues to work among the people of the Old Covenant, bringing forth treasures of wisdom which flow from their encounter with His word." In addition, they complimented Francis for his denunciation "of a new, pervasive, even fashionable form of anti-Semitism."
Notably, after these complimentary references, they were silent about the Pope's apparent reluctance publicly to denounce Islamic terrorism. They also did not address his silence about particular passages in the Koran which have fueled both anti-Semitic and anti-Christian atrocities. Denunciations of Jews and Christians are highlighted in the very first chapter (Sura) of the Koran, in a prayer allegedly taught by Allah to his Messenger, Muhammad:

"Guide us on the Straight PathThe way of those upon whom You have bestowed Your Gracenot (the way of) those who have earned Your anger (Jews)Nor those who went astray (Christians) "Koran Sura One: Al-Fatihah (The Opening) Verses (Ayat) 6 and 7

Pope Francis has yet to address this reference and the many other denunciations of Jews and Christians in the Koran.
The following examples illustrate Pope Francis's public approach thus far. Avoiding criticism of Islam, he called the Koran "a prophetic book of peace." Also, on a flight back from Poland, he told reporters "It's not right to identify Islam with violence. It's not right and it's not true." More bewildering however, is his comment following the horrific murders at the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris: "in freedom of expression there are limits... you cannot provoke. You cannot insult the faith of others. You cannot make fun of the faith of others."
The Pope's failure vociferously to denounce Islam-based violence concerns many among both Church hierarchy and lay people. Some may wonder what motivates Francis to avoid pointed criticism of the violent excesses committed by the Muslim faithful. Some may also ask why Francis avoids condemning the extremist rhetoric of imams routinely urging attacks against Christians and Jews. The reluctance of Francis to criticize Islamic violence while not hesitating publicly to condemn evil, corruption, and social injustice elsewhere, invites inquiry.
One explanation for the Pope's seeming naïveté about Islam's hostility to Judeo-Christian civilization might be his perception of his role. He may well believe that his mission is to lead all men to Christ. No doubt he also believes that all things are possible in a God-created universe, even the ultimate conversion of Muslims to Christianity. On a human plane, he may understand that there is little hope for the peaceful coexistence of Judaism, Christianity, or secular democracy with Islam. The Church has a long view of the ways God moves in history. In this sense, Catholicism and Islam share a casual view of transient ideologies, governments and nation-states.
Even so, the Pope's statements regarding Islam and his refusal directly to discuss mounting Christian martyrdom in Muslim lands defy credulity. Whether his words are willful blindness, innocent naiveté, or intellectual ignorance of the nature of Islam itself, it is confusing many of the faithful. One moderate Muslim leader, Yahya Cholil Staquf, head of Indonesia's Nahdlatul Ulama, said that Westerners "should stop pretending that extremism and terrorism have nothing to do with Islam."
The Rabbinates' proposal for an alliance will receive a polite hearing, especially by the Vatican's "Commission of the Holy See's Religious Relations with Jews" and "The Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue." As yet, however, there is no sign that Francis will alter his outreach to the Muslim world or become more critical of Islam-based extremism. Another possible reason for the Vatican's reluctance might be its concern for minority Christian populations residing in Muslim-majority countries. Still another might be the Vatican's responsibility to secure Christendom's sacred sites in the Holy Land and to protect Vatican property and financial interests.
Pope Francis is no doubt sensitive to possible Muslim misperceptions about his intentions. The Vatican is not game to rejoin a centuries-old battle against Islamic expansionism. Indeed, Francis would want to avoid repeating the anti-Christian violence that followed Pope Benedict's obscure criticism of Islam. Responding to moderate and extremist indignation at Benedict's having quoted a medieval Christian Emperor's critique of Islam, Muslims killed a nun in Somalia, beheaded a priest in Iraq, and attacked churches in the West Bank.
Francis is also aware of the potential of explosive anti-Christian violence that might follow any cooperative effort by Jews and Catholics to combat Islamist violence. Indeed, Islamic leaders such Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the Muslim Brotherhood's principal theologian with a global Muslim following, called for "Al-Youm Al Ghadah" ("Day of Rage") after Pope Benedict XVI's lecture critical of Islam, that he delivered in Regensburg in 2006.[1]
For Jews, religious or secular, particularly in Europe, a partnership with the Vatican would provide a psychological boost, as many have already fled rising anti-Semitic, Islamist violence.
While the Rabbinates' proposal does not have the public endorsement of secular Jews, there is little doubt that many embrace similar sentiments. The document outlines the threat that both radical secularism and extremist Islam pose to religious liberty and the shared values of Judaism and Christianity. The Symposium on "Anti-Semitism and Minority Rights in the Middle East," sponsored by the Institute for the Study of Global Anti-Semitism and Policy (ISGAP)[2], convened in the Vatican on September 13, 2017, may provide Pope Francis a venue to embrace, or at least mention, this appeal for partnership.
Despite the Vatican's cautious approach to Islam-inspired violence, this unprecedented offer of partnership by Jewish religious leaders must tempt some within the Vatican's hierarchy to consider embracing their initiative. The Church is relieved after finally having purged remnants of anti-Semitism in its midst, in part due to the efforts of Pope John Paul II. It is now proud of its improved relations with official Judaism and the Jewish people.
Catholics, especially those who are minorities in Muslim-majority societies, and some of whom suffer persecution by Islamic militants, would presumably like Francis vigorously to defend their rights. The Vatican may nevertheless continue to mollify Muslim sensitivities, while still hoping to limit ongoing martyrdoms of Christians. This cautious approach is likely to endure until a catastrophic anti-Christian Islam-based atrocity precipitates a rebellion within the Church's hierarchy.

Pictured: Pope Francis visits the Great Synagogue of Rome on January 17, 2016. (Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images)

Dr. Lawrence A. Franklin was the Iran Desk Officer for Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld. He also served on active duty with the U.S. Army and as a Colonel in the Air Force Reserve, where he was a Military Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Israel.

This is actually too funny. I just hung up on the Republican National Committee that was looking for a donation. The first question they asked was do I support Trump. My answer was yes. I told the man that what I didn’t support was the Republication party not supporting Trump. He didn’t understand and I had to hang up on him. Then I opened this email.

This email reflects how many people feel today.

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And Trump is the only guy who seems to understand what We The People want and need.

I'm sick of politicians, sick of the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, and sick of illegal’s. I just want this thing fixed.

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You are welcome to pass this on, or not.

Thought for the Day "No country can sustain, in idleness, more than a small percentage of its numbers. The great majority must labor at something productive!"

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: In parallel with its growing offensive nuclear capabilities, North Korea possesses fully operational, extensive arsenals of chemical and biological weapons. Pyongyang’s possession of these weapons, which are intact and ready for use, has serious implications, some of which pertain to Iran and Syria.

The US Defense Intelligence Agency recently estimated that North Korea might possess up to 60 nuclear warheads. There are different estimates as to the segmentation of this inventory in relation to various delivery systems, but it is clear that Pyongyang’s objective is to establish the capacity to bring the entire US within range of its ballistic-nuclear ordnance. South Korea and Japan are almost certainly completely covered.

Pyongyang has already achieved partial coverage of US territories. Last June, in a hearing before the US House Armed Services Committee, the head of the US Missile Defense Agency, Vice Admiral James Syring, said: “The advancement and demonstration of technology of ballistic missiles from North Korea in the last six months have caused great concern to me and others. It is incumbent on us to assume that North Korea today can range the US with an ICBM carrying a nuclear warhead.”

This particular endeavor was likely assisted by Tehran. A February 2016 report by the Congressional Research Service concluded, “Iran has likely exceeded North Korea’s ability to develop, test, and build ballistic missiles.” Tehran might be, and probably is, helpful to Pyongyang with respect to technological aspects of the nuclear sphere as well.

The nuclear component within the spectrum of North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) is evidently growing. The big question is whether the country’s despot, Kim Jong-un, will be the first person to use nuclear weapons since 1945.

Quite recently, Kim elected to employ a highly lethal chemical weapon, the nerve agent VX, for a political assassination. This weapon was used last February by two female operatives, one Indonesian and the other Vietnamese, to murder Kim Jong-un’s estranged half-brother, Kim Jong-nam, in Malaysia. The victim died shortly after being assaulted by the two women, who wiped VX on his face as he prepared to board a flight to the Chinese territory of Macau. Traces of VX were revealed on swabs taken from his eyes and face.

This deadly chemical agent was probably smuggled from North Korea to Malaysia, which in and of itself was an intriguing and risky move. Six of eight potential suspects were from Pyongyang’s Ministries of State Security and Foreign Affairs. The suspects flew from Kuala Lumpur on the day of the assassination, passing through Vladivostok on their way back to Pyongyang. South Korea’s request to detain four of the suspects was rejected by Russian officials on the grounds of lack of evidence.

It can be assumed that Kim Jong-un was in on the plot from its inception. Symbolically, at least, this political assassination by VX can be regarded as an indication of Pyongyang’s chemical weapons (CW) capabilities. Whether the regime intended it to or not, the assassination signaled the readiness, usability, and deployability of North Korea’s VX, which can be used for guerrilla warfare, chemical terrorism, or wide-scale chemical attack.

VX is also weaponized within warheads carried by ballistic missiles in Pyongyang’s vast CW arsenal. The North Korean ballistic program constitutes the principal, though not the only, vehicle for all three WMD programs. The CW and biological weapons (BW) programs are fully matured and have marked operational offensive capabilities. Inadequate attention is being paid to Pyongyang’s large-scale offensive capacities in terms of CW and BW, but the VX political assassination incident was a wake-up call (if unintentional).

If a violent conflict arises with North Korea, the menace of non-nuclear WMD is real, whether or not a nuclear confrontation occurs. Pyongyang’s concrete CW and BW capabilities and related alignments ought to be monitored meticulously, in conjunction with its nuclear capability.

In East Asia, Japan is seriously threatened by North Korea, as is South Korea. At a parliamentary panel on national security, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe warned that Pyongyang might already be capable of firing missiles tipped with warheads containing the sarin nerve agent toward Japan. It can be assumed that he had concrete knowledge of what he was talking about and that his worry was genuine.

VX and sarin constitute but two of the chemical warfare agents comprising a vast toxic stockpile possessed by Pyongyang. That stockpile also contains mustard gas, lewisite, phosgene oxime, and other agents. North Korea is believed to have 2,500-5,000 tons of chemical warfare agents. Its annual production capacity, though, is 4,500 tons in peacetime and 12,000 tons in wartime.

South Korean experts estimate that Pyongyang has four military bases equipped with CW, 11 facilities where CW are produced and stored, and 13 dedicated research and development facilities.

It is the immensity of both the CW and BW programs that chiefly distinguishes them. The BW program is under the control of the country’s top geneticist, Dr. Yi Yong Su. The biological inventory is believed to include highly virulent influenza viruses, smallpox, Korean hemorrhagic fever, yellow fever, anthrax germs, plague, cholera, and typhoid. Specific facilities have been identified that deal with influenza and anthrax, with eight installations engaging in the production of highly virulent influenza viruses.

Institute 398 is the most prominent of these facilities. Located at Singam-Ri, south of Pyongyang, Institute 398 is heavily ringed by military units. All that is visible above ground is a cluster of concrete-block buildings and fuel storage tanks. The laboratories, including two dealing with the latest molecular biology technology, are hidden far below ground. BW field tests are being conducted on the island territories belonging to North Korea, and political prisoners are used for live biological experiments.

The weaponization of BW agents has been linked to several facilities, such as the Germ Research Institute, the Central Biological Research Institute, the so-called Military Biodefense Unit, the No. 5 Factory, and the Bio-Technical Institute. The last facility, a factory ostensibly for the production of an agricultural bioinsecticide, actually produces weaponized anthrax. This facility was visited by Kim Jong-un in 2015, where he was photographed by North Korean television posing with advanced lab equipment and military personnel. In a further demonstration by the ruler last August, he paid a visit to the Chemical Material Institute of the Academy of Defense Science, a highly advanced institute that mainly deals with missiles, including those with chemical and biological warheads.

But in general, the regime tends towards concealment. With the object of forming extremely scattered alignments that can scarcely be identified let alone monitored, there are about 1,500-3,000 North Koreans and 25-30 entities involved in the BW program; 3,500-5,000 people and 25-50 entities involved in the CW program; and about 9,000-15,000 people and 100-150 entities involved in the research, development, testing, and production of nuclear weapons.

Research, development, and production of North Korean CW and BW are conducted by two organizations subordinate to the Korean Workers’ Party Munitions Industry Department: the Second Academy of Natural Sciences and the Second Economic Committee’s Fifth Machine Industry Bureau, which controls all facilities and sub-facilities where CW and BW are produced. Both organizations receive cooperation and assistance from the Korean Academy of Sciences and the Korean People’s Army. The academy’s Third Machine Industry Bureau produces artillery shells, the Fourth missile warheads, and the Seventh air-delivered weapons.

A few years ago, the North Korean arsenal was estimated to include about 150 chemical warheads plus several dozen biological warheads for ballistic missiles. It should be assumed that most of the missiles Pyongyang possesses and is currently developing are intended to carry chemical and biological warheads, among others.

An additional major delivery tool for Pyongyang’s CW and BW payloads reportedly consists of 300 to 400 unmanned aerial attack vehicles. Parts of this fleet can reach Seoul, the South Korean capital, within one hour. Another item in Pyongyang’s inventory is aerial bombs filled with CW and BW agents. Perhaps the most ominous potential deployment of CW by North Korea is via artillery shells and rockets containing chemical agents. Such ordnance, which is already amassed adjacent to the demilitarized zone along the border with South Korea, could in theory be put to use at a moment’s notice. Pyongyang could use these weapons to strike Seoul within half an hour of war’s breaking out, or indeed as a preceding move.

It has also been assessed that epidemic BW agents are likely to be dispersed by Pyongyang’s Special Operations Forces through a secret attack in the enemy’s rear, whether that enemy be South Korea, Japan, or the US. Such a worrisome scenario could take place prior to, during, or irrespective of a military confrontation. Brig. Gen. (ret.) Woon Goh, former Chemical-Biological-Radiological Defense Commander of South Korea, recently pointed out the likelihood of BW and CW being used by North Korea and the preparedness of South Korea for such events, particularly in terms of coping with a biological attack.

Within the framework of the recent massive US-South Korean joint military exercise, a two-day drill simulated an assault on Pyongyang’s CW laboratories. The collaborating forces stormed an imitation village loaded with sarin gas facilities. At the same time, South Korean police and military units conducted a large-scale exercise on coping with a chemical terrorism attack by Pyongyang on a central subway station in Seoul. It is of note that the US Army 23rd chemical battalion, which left South Korea in 2004 and returned in 2013 to support the South Korean military and US troops based in the South, participated in these exercises.

Last June, the US Department of the Army Headquarters issued a 70-page manual on “Combined Arms Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction” possessed by “actors of concern.” Its object is to “curtail the research, development, possession, proliferation, use, and effects of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons, related expertise, materials, technologies, and means of delivery.”

Of concern as well are two intercepted shipments of CW or related components that originated from the Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation (KOMID), Pyongyang’s primary arms dealer and main exporter of goods and equipment related to ballistic missiles. The consignees were Syrian entities designated by the EU and the US as front companies for Syria’s Scientific Studies and Research Centre (SSRC; also named CERS), an entity previously identified as having cooperated with KOMID on prohibited item transfers.

Key Iranian authorities were also involved. Iran is certainly aware of, if not actively encouraging, North Korean military deliveries to Syria, including CW. Iran is building a Scud missile factory near the city of Baniyas, south of Latakia, in an area seen as a bastion of support for the embattled Assad regime. The inconclusively specified Syrian installations recently bombed in the Masyaf military compound represent a similar conjunction, largely controlled by the Iranians – possibly with North Korean involvement – of a highly classified offshoot of the SSRC. The installations in Masyaf, which have been closely monitored for several years, are believed to contain secret, uninspected sections linked to CW and to advanced surface-to-surface missiles and rockets.

Collectively, the wide spectrum of Pyongyang’s WMD, apart from its geostrategic relevance to East Asia and in relation to the US, has meaningful hidden interfaces with Syria and Iran. Those ongoing interfaces consist of the transfer of knowhow, components, or weaponry 1) between Pyongyang and Tehran regarding the nuclear, chemical and biological spheres; 2) from North Korea to Syria regarding the chemical and biological spheres; and 3) from Iran to Syria regarding the chemical and biological spheres. In addition, Iran may be using the uncontrolled land pathways it now occupies to and from Syria rather than only the airways for dispatches between Iran and North Korea.

For many years, Pyongyang has been technologically supporting the weaponization of CW and BW agents via various delivery systems in both Iran and Syria, and has built factories for that purpose. The full scope of those activities is not clear, as they are mostly covert. As one example, in 2012, Pyongyang apparently supplied Iran and Syria with genetically modified BW agents intended for weaponization.

Obviously, the North Korea-Iran-Syria interface ought to be meticulously monitored. In certain respects, Iranian knowhow and technologies are better than those of North Korea, so it can be of consequential assistance to Pyongyang. If not properly monitored, that assistance could result in undesirable developments taking place without warning.

As for North Korea itself, the conflict over restraining its nuclear program is intensifying – but its CW and BW arsenals are unfortunately likely to remain intact and ready for use.

Lt. Col. (res.) Dr. Dany Shoham, a microbiologist and an expert on chemical and biological warfare in the Middle East, is a senior research associate at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. He is a former senior intelligence analyst in the IDF and the Israeli Defense Ministry.

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Welcome to Conservative Musings. The purpose of this blog is to discuss with everyone (conservatives, moderates, independents and progressives) the issues of the day in an intelligent discussion. We believe that discussion can lead to agreement or an agreement to disagree but it must be held in a mutually respectful environment. We learn nothing from name calling or argument for argument's sake therefore we will not allow that to happen here.

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